Ridgewood reaches contract deal with teachers

RIDGEWOOD – The Board of Education announced Thursday it had reached agreement with its teachers and secretaries on a three-year contract, ending 18 months of contentious negotiations.

The district’s roughly 550 teachers and secretaries worked without a contract for more than a year, district officials said.

The contract will bump up salaries while requiring employees to pay a larger share of premiums for health insurance coverage. The contract, which runs through June 30, 2015, gives employees a 2.3 percent raise over a four-year period, including a 1 percent retroactive pay increase for the 2011-12 school year.

Ridgewood Superintendent Daniel Fishbein praised the Board of Education and Ridgewood Education Association for hammering out a deal. “It’s different financial times than it was four years ago when they reached the last agreement. It’s always good to get these agreements behind us.”

Michael Yannone, president of the Ridgewood Education Association, the union which represents teachers and secretaries, said its members are relieved to finally have a contract.

“It was the longest we’d ever been without a contract,” he said. “We are pleased with the settlement we reached with the Board of Education. It is fair and reasonable. We look forward to moving on from this point.”

The district employees will also have some changes to their health care benefits. The union has agreed to move from the district’s current medical insurance plan to the School Employee Health Benefits Program, which is a less costly managed care plan offered through the New Jersey Division of Pensions and Benefits.

Teachers will contribute between 12 percent and 35 percent of their premium costs, dependent on salary and level of coverage, a considerable increase to the 5 percent contributions district employees have made in the past toward family medical insurance.

As a result of the change, the district estimates that employee contributions will quadruple to $2 million in the 2014-15 school year.